


Lights Out

by pinstripedoc



Category: Being Human (UK)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-23
Updated: 2013-12-23
Packaged: 2018-01-05 17:30:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1096589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinstripedoc/pseuds/pinstripedoc
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An ordinary night in is suddenly disrupted.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lights Out

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ironed_orchid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ironed_orchid/gifts).



"NO!"

The double scream made Annie jump out of her skin. Or it would've done if she still had skin. Honestly, she can't think of the last time she'd heard two grown men yell that much. Although, there was that one time in university when--well, it didn't matter now. She popped down to the bottom of the staircase, hands propped on her hips as she cocked an eyebrow at George sitting in the dark, a hand covering his mouth. Mitchell was pacing angrily in front of the sofa.

"Now don't tell me," she said reproachfully. "Neither of you have had the lights go out on you before." A thought occurred to her and she carried on, not waiting for a response from either of them. "At least it didn't happen while you were in the shower! There's nothing worse than the lights going out on you while you're washing your hair, so be glad that didn't happen to you." A soft laugh escaped her as the memory came back to her. "If I had a quid for every time that happened..."

By that point, though, both men were staring at her. "Annie, what the hell does a shower have to do with anything?!"

"Never mind that," Mitchell interjected, having recovered his tongue, as he pointed an accusatory finger at the blackened television screen. "What the hell are we going to do about _The Real Hustle_?! It's the first episode of the new series!"

Annie sighed slightly. She had a feeling she'd never fully understand their fascination with that programme, but she didn't mind them watching it. Hell, she thought about joining them one night to see what it was all about. She just knew it kept them happy having something to watch together. Considering what they'd told her about their lives and their supernatural natures, sitting around the telly and sometimes sharing a pizza with each other was nothing short of a miracle. Or so she reckoned. That whole world was still relatively new to her, but she was pretty surprised with what she was able to accept. Being a ghost made the existence of werewolves and vampires only seem like a natural progression on the scale of weird and strange things to her. 

"You say that about _all_ of them," she said dismissively. "And anyway, won't it be on again? I think I have the latest Radio Times around here..." She wandered past Mitchell to the mess of a side table they used for everything. Though lately, it was partially covered with tea cups. Ever since she realised she could make tea, she practically had to restrain herself from making cup after cup of a favourite drink she'd never be able to taste again. 

And she'd tried. She really did, but all it did was go right through her and make it look like she'd wet herself.

"That's not the point," George grumbled as he wandered out of the room. Annie glanced up at Mitchell, who looked between her and George, but chose to follow after George in a frustrated huff. Honestly, for someone who was over a hundred years old, Mitchell sure as hell didn't act it all that often. For some absurd reason she couldn't quite fathom, she found that somewhat endearing. And George had his moments as well, both good and bad, and she was pretty certain there were times when he didn't feel all too positive about her. Didn't matter to her, though. She still liked him anyway. 

After a moment of searching and failing to find what she wanted, she joined the boys by the fusebox--or rather, as she quickly discovered, just George. "Where did--?" She started to ask, but her question was immediately answered when she heard a door slam, followed by a murmured yell. "Ah... It's not turning on, is it?" 

"No, no it's not. It's not doing a single. Damn. Thing," George replied, punctuating his last words with the repeated slam of the fusebox door.

She ignored that little tantrum and slowly opened the fusebox again as something had caught her eye. She poked her head in closer, peering at the different switches. The writing next to them was old and ancient, but there were a few expectations that made her heart ache. Slowly, she reached a hand out to touch the writing she knew so well. It was silly, wasn't it, feeling so upset over something so small as a few handwritten words? She'd forgotten he'd done that...

For a second, the lights flickered and George let out a cheer--but it was gone just as quickly.

"Oh, come on!" George frantically flipped the switches again and again, his voice increasing in pitch with each similar plea. 

"George." Gently, she rested a hand on his shoulder. With her touch, he stopped and reluctantly glanced at her. "It's all right. We'll...try to watch it some other way. Maybe they'll broadcast it again. We won't know until the electricity is back on."

Her friend let out a loud sigh and shut the fusebox door, defeated. "It really _was_ supposed to be a good one."

"I know," she said with a pat on his back.

Together, they made their way back out into the front room, just in time for Mitchell to return, nearly busting the door off its hinges as he threw it open. "Would you believe the entire _city_ is out? It's so dark, I can see the stars as clear as day!"

Both she and George boggled at him. "The whole city?"

But Annie wasn't entirely interested in that. The stars... When was the last time she'd seen all the stars shining bright in the sky? Well, there was that one camping trip she took in the countryside, but there were far too many trees and... _other_ things going on, and stargazing certainly was the very last thing on her mind. Yet it was something she had been thinking about doing with Owen on their honeymoon. Maybe take a night, a bottle of wine and a couple of blankets and just relax together. They'd count the stars for a while, lose count after twenty or so, and maybe try to pick out constellations they knew. She couldn't remember if he had a favourite one, but she would have found out then. And then...she could have used that to look up at whenever she was feeling lonely, like if he was out of town on a business trip, working late, or even up late with their baby. That was a life she'd never have, and the longer she stayed here, the more she realised she'd probably just keep finding things that reminded her of him. 

"Yes, the entire fucking city, George! The only lights I can see are candles and--we don't have any candles around here, do we?"

Annie nodded after a moment when she noticed the question was directed at her. "Yeah, I've got some up in my room but--" Mitchell began to run up the stairs, and she merely rose her voice. "-- _But_ why don't we just light up the grill outside instead? I'll make us some tea and you lot can tell me more about this programme of yours."

She heard Mitchell's footsteps stop, then watched him re-emerge from the next floor. "You know what? We might as well. Annie, put on your kettle. I'll start the fire. George..."

"Yeah?" 

"See if we have any clean cups left. Annie may have used them all already, but I think there's a couple in the cupboard she hasn't gotten to yet."

Annie didn't say anything to confirm or deny that supposition, but she just smiled to herself as she went off to fill her kettle with water. She knew damn well what cups Mitchell meant and she'd just used those the other day. Oh well, it wasn't her fault they never brought them back and washed them on their own. She may be a ghost, but she sure as hell wasn't their mum. She was their friend, despite their differences, and she was determined to make this a better evening for them all. 

_The Real Hustle_ could wait.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this! I had fun exploring these characters in the early days of their friendships.
> 
> Merry Christmas!


End file.
